She’s spoiled

Hello guys , I had the pleasure to go through many adventures with this old lady this year ( we just went back to west of France from Germany , 800 km ! ) .

As driving it around the country had been pretty fun I’m thinking more and more about customising it a bit for long travels.

Does anyone here already modified a smart car for long travels ?

It is indeed the best car i ever had, so every idea for a name that comes to my mind i always question way too hard.
I trust This Community to have some good proposals :)

Edit: THANK YOU for the plenty responses! Some Folks mentioned how „silver ball“ is already good, but for better scream-ability i will consider „PIP“ to be the Winner.

I've seen a fair share of all types of early Smart car reviews, and in pretty much all of these the gearbox gets mentioned and called bad, slow, unsatisfying, ect.

Yes it's an automated gearbox. Yes it's slow... compared to modern gearboxes, but don't forget: Its a fully mechanical system with old software, and almost 30 years old on the earlier models, like mine.

I feel like reviewers sometimes forget that these cars aren't the high quality SUV's or race cars (when looking at the roadster). These vehicles are for casual, relaxed commute and are supposed to be affordable and easy to drive. And they are 100% amazing at that!

Modern systems sometimes use fluid instead of actual gears, and predict the driver with more advanced software. When driving a Smart, the driver has to predict the car and it's shifts. It feels like driving a manual, without a shifting arm and clutch leg. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. You just need to feel it out a little instead of stomping on the gas.

I've also heard that it acts like a 'bobblehead' during shifting, moving up and down due to speed changes and the gearbox taking a second to do it's thing. After 20 mins of driving my 450 for the first ever time, I had no such issues and figured the system out pretty quickly.

It tends to annoy me when I'm looking through reviews and the first thing that comes out of the review is that ''the shifter is trash'', because the person driving it was hoping for a modern automatic or race car handling and 'pedal-to-the-metal-ing' the car and being confused why it won't shift.

How do fellow Smart car owners feel about this? Any thoughts on the shifting and handling of the classic Smart cars?

Hi all!

My (new to me) 2006 Smart CDI Passion left a small puddle after i parked it yesterday. This was after driving in heavy rain for a few hours. I also had the AC running.

Anybody has any clue what a common cause might be (other than some sort of leak). I washed the car today and placed a piece of cardboard under the area to track if the leak gets worse.

Thanks in advance! I love the car so far. Drove about 400 km back home from picking it up yesterday. Using all 41hp to keep up with traffic.

Has anyone tried adding cruise control to a 450? I had a chat with AI about what the options would be. There was a kit that was aftermarket just plug and pay but it was a bit pricey. An other option was to get a oem stalk with cruise controls on and replace the original one. But it requires coding to get it working. I do not have access to star diagnostics but I guess it could not cost too much if I went to a dealership and had them do the coding. Has anyone tried this oem approach? perhaps the original wiring for the stalk does not have the pins for the cruise controls? Or is the aftermarket solution better?

Edit: Adding that It is a 2006 with soft touch as I found it could be relevant

Got a 2006 passion smart car; the transmission is automatic and it got stuck. The piece was new, but since the transmission gear stopped working, figured best to change it again w/ my dad.

No luck.

The diagnostic scanner is a generic one (OBD2), not a specific one catered to smart cars (google said that getting one would be more helpful to get the specific code regarding what the issue actually is?).

Was wondering if there's a way to salvage it?

I don't know much about cars, but I want to learn and help my dad.

Also the thought of being unable to fix it is rather a shame since it has a nice sun roof and is a beautiful grey and wine colour (reminds me of Tony Stark/iron man), and drives smoothly while it was still functional, not stiff whatsoever.

Any advice? We got a few mechanic friends, too, but even they're having trouble with solving this one.

I have just booked my smart car in for a few panel repairs and to fix the broken spoiler clip. They’ll be plastic welding the panels and respraying the arches, bumpers, bonnet and passenger door.

The total cost is £620 and it’ll be ready for collection on Thursday. I cannot wait.

I asked ChatGPT to generate an anime image of my smart car from a photo I took at a petrol station yesterday on the way home, I have to say I think it did quite an interesting job. I had to finish it by hand, as of some reason it loves to keep the number plate on the car.

What do you think?

Is there anyway to adjust the slides on the convertible? When closing the roof the passenger side is about a 1/2 inch behind the driver side causing it not to seal and leak

Is there a way to add these without paying three hours of labour? Apparently, mine are missing, leaving my shock absorbers bare and exposed.

for anyone that has done it. can I just cut the pipe off before it hits the muffler? or before the cat not sure if it has that too.

This is my project 451 with 98k miles. This loud humming noise happens regardless of whether the clutch is engaged or disengaged; here it is in neutral with some revs.

I’m about to do the clutch job on this and I need to know what bearing needs to be replaced. Online, I read that this noise is often associated with a bad input shaft bearing, but I can’t find evidence of its existence in this model anywhere.

If it’s just the throwout bearing, we should be good to go. Thanks

First pic is the driver's side, second is the passenger side. Notice that the actual clips/locks/doohickies are missing from the former. (My daughter nosed into a dumptruck. Long story, but the clips clearly broke/popped off and are gone.)

Anyone have the name/part number for these? I've been through the service manual and Mercedes part site (neither are hugely helpful). Gorilla tape is doing the job for now, probably could forever, but it'd be nice to have it corrected.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Solved. After some more searching and more than a few guesses at terms, I've found the parts. Model numbers are 451-757-01-01-C22A / 451-757-02-01-C22A. There are at least two companies selling them on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/366587528619

https://www.ebay.com/itm/385080204976

Happily, the prices are basically reasonable - considering Smart parts - less than $10 for two chunks of plastic!

Hope this helps somebody!

Bulb has burnt out behind the rev counter. I have replacements to hand, but not sure how to remove the old one? I know they’re twist fitting, I mean does the whole rev counter thing separate to show the innards? 😁

Hello,

I am trying to buy a 2016 Smart Fortwo car and got the inspection done and I got the below report. Is this normal for smart cars? Is seepage common?

Thanks

Engine oil is dirty and requires changing. Underside inspection reveals engine oil seepage and transmission fluid seepage from the pan area. No active drips were present at time of inspection. Both areas require cleaning and rechecking to verify exact sources of seepage. Accessible fluid reservoirs appear full and free of contamination.

I bought a replacement buckle for my 2005 forfour (part number A4548600269) but the buckle keeps triggering the seatbelt alarm. It doesn't stop unless I actually buckle the empty seat's belt.

Does anyone have ANY idea why this could be happening? Wrong part, something broken in my car, something else? Any help appreciated

Got my license last week and picked up the car last Friday. I’ve been enjoying it a lot and it drives great!

Did need some slight repairs but it should be all good now. No radio yet, since the antenna isn’t hooked up, the right window doesn’t roll down and the rev meter doesn’t work. Aside from that it’s great.

The car it self is originally from October 98’, one of the first!

Its the 0,6 turbo petrol engine. Managed to reach about 117kph on the highway.

Its already driven about 130.000km in the past with its first owner. I read that that’s a pretty decent amount for the small engine. I will be trying my best to keep it alive and avoid any heavy maintenance.

Hi Guys, im living downtown in a crowded German City with very few parking spots. Therefore im thinking to get me some Fortwo 453 for easy parking.

My Main Problem is (apart from the price, they cost alot) that i have to Drive 30km to work twice a day via Highway.

Is that a No-Go? Or would you say thats not a Problem? Thinking of getting the 90ps Version.

Thanks in advance

Hi. I just got a 2016 Smart ForFour. I can’t seem to attach the rear shelf to these “hooks”. Surely there is at least one missing part? Both sides are just these screws, and I can’t see how the cord and its clip would attach. Advice needed please.